Laiba Husain | Digital Health and Tele-Oncology | Best Researcher Award

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Dr. Laiba Husain | Digital Health and Tele-Oncology | Best Researcher Award

Early Impact Scholar, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, United States

Dr. Laiba Husain is a dedicated public health scholar and implementation scientist with extensive experience across the UK and the U.S. Her academic journey spans leading institutions including the University of Michigan, University of Birmingham, University of Oxford, and currently UT Southwestern Medical Center. Her work combines rigorous academic training with practical insights into healthcare systems, digital health equity, and translational science. Dr. Husain’s research focuses on improving public health outcomes, especially among marginalized populations, and she is recognized for her leadership in advancing stakeholder-engaged healthcare research. Her trajectory reflects a strong commitment to equity-driven innovation in public health.

Profile

Scopus

Education

Dr. Husain completed a Bachelor of Science in Biopsychology, Cognition, and Neuroscience from the University of Michigan in 2017. She was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to pursue a Master’s in Public Health at the University of Birmingham, graduating in 2019. She earned her Doctor of Philosophy (DPhil) in Translational Health Sciences from the University of Oxford in January 2025, under the supervision of Dr. Trish Greenhalgh. Her academic background blends biomedical sciences with public health and translational research, equipping her with a multidisciplinary approach to health systems innovation and equity-oriented scientific inquiry.

Professional Experience

Dr. Husain’s professional journey includes roles as Research Associate and Analyst at the University of Oxford, where she contributed to groundbreaking projects on digital health and COVID-19. She later served as a consultant at the Healthcare Improvement Studies Institute (THIS Institute), University of Cambridge. In 2025, she joined UT Southwestern Medical Center as an Early Impact Scholar and a member of the Advancing Implementation & Improvement Science Program. Her positions have spanned mixed-methods research, policy consulting, academic mentorship, and collaborative program development, establishing her as a leader in evidence-based public health and implementation science.

Research Interest

Dr. Husain’s research interests lie at the intersection of digital health equity, healthcare implementation science, primary care improvement, and public health informatics. She focuses on designing inclusive health interventions, particularly for marginalized communities facing digital and linguistic barriers. Her DPhil research explored intersectionality in digital health disparities, while her ongoing work at UT Southwestern centers on tele-oncology and stakeholder-driven improvements to care delivery. She is deeply invested in advancing equity in health outcomes through translational research, intersectoral partnerships, and innovative health systems thinking rooted in real-world challenges and community needs.

Research Skills

Dr. Husain possesses comprehensive research competencies, including qualitative and mixed-methods analysis, stakeholder engagement, and protocol development. At Oxford, she established communication channels across EU stakeholders and co-developed engagement frameworks to align research with community and regulatory needs. She has authored multiple publications, demonstrating expertise in data collection, analysis, and theory-driven evaluation. Her time at THIS Institute honed her strategic consultancy skills in healthcare improvement, while her current role includes designing health initiatives, mentorship, and cross-disciplinary collaborations. These skills enable her to bridge research and practice to maximize public health impact.

Awards and Honors

Dr. Husain has received numerous prestigious honors, beginning with the James B. Angell Scholar Award (University of Michigan, 2017) and Fulbright Scholar Award (US-UK Fulbright Association, 2018). At Oxford, she was named Dean’s University Scholar (2021) and received the Doctoral Fellowship Award from the Health Improvement Studies Institute (2022). In 2024, she was honored in the International Women of Impact Portrait Series at Green Templeton College. Most recently, she earned the Nuffield Departmental Award for Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation (2025), underscoring her exceptional scholarly contributions to health sciences.

Publications

  • Greenhalgh, Trisha, Matthew Knight, Maria Buxton, and Laiba Husain. “Management of post-acute covid-19 in primary care.” BMJ 370 (2020).

  • Espinosa-Gonzalez, Ana Belen, Ana Luisa Neves, Francesca Fiorentino, Denys Prociuk, Laiba Husain, Sonny Christian Ramtale, Emma Mi et al. “Predicting risk of hospital admission in patients with suspected COVID-19 in a community setting: protocol for development and validation of a multivariate risk prediction tool.” JMIR Research Protocols 10, no. 5 (2021): e29072.

  • Rushforth, Alex, Emma Ladds, Sietse Wieringa, Sharon Taylor, Laiba Husain, and Trisha Greenhalgh. “Long Covid–the illness narratives.” Social Science & Medicine 286 (2021): 114326.

  • Callan, Caitriona, Emma Ladds, Laiba Husain, Kyle Pattinson, and Trisha Greenhalgh. “‘I can’t cope with multiple inputs’: a qualitative study of the lived experience of ‘brain fog’ after COVID-19.” BMJ Open 12, no. 2 (2022): e056366.

  • Husain, Laiba, Trisha Greenhalgh, Gemma Hughes, Teresa Finlay, and Joseph Wherton. “Desperately seeking intersectionality in digital health disparity research: narrative review to inform a richer theorization of multiple disadvantage.” Journal of Medical Internet Research 24, no. 12 (2022): e42358.

  • Greenhalgh, Trisha, Shaw SE, Nishio AA, Booth A, Byng R, Clarke A, Dakin F, Davies R, Faulkner S, Hemmings N, Husain L. “Protocol: Remote care as the ‘new normal’? Multi-site case study in UK general practice.” NIHR Open Research 2 (2022): 46.

  • Wieringa, Sietse, Ana Luisa Neves, Alexander Rushforth, Emma Ladds, Laiba Husain, Teresa Finlay, Catherine Pope, and Trisha Greenhalgh. “Safety implications of remote assessments for suspected COVID-19: qualitative study in UK primary care.” BMJ Quality & Safety 32, no. 12 (2023): 732–741.

  • Husain, Laiba, Teresa Finlay, Arqam Husain, Joseph Wherton, Gemma Hughes, and Trisha Greenhalgh. “Developing user personas to capture intersecting dimensions of disadvantage in older patients who are marginalised: a qualitative study.” British Journal of General Practice 74, no. 741 (2024): e250–e257.

  • Husain, Laiba, and Trisha Greenhalgh. “Examining Intersectionality and Barriers to the Uptake of Video Consultations Among Older Adults From Disadvantaged Backgrounds With Limited English Proficiency: Qualitative Narrative Interview Study.” Journal of Medical Internet Research 27 (2025): e65690.

Conclusion

Dr. Laiba Husain exemplifies a rising leader in public health and implementation science, blending academic rigor with a profound commitment to community-centered research. With a strong foundation in interdisciplinary education and diverse professional roles, she contributes meaningfully to equitable healthcare delivery, especially for underrepresented populations. Her achievements across research, teaching, and consultancy reflect her drive to translate theory into impactful practice. As she continues her scholarly journey at UT Southwestern, Dr. Husain remains poised to influence the next generation of health policy and practice through innovation, inclusion, and evidence-based action.

Giulia Iaconi | AI in Healthcare | Best Researcher Award

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Dr. Giulia Iaconi | AI in Healthcare | Best Researcher Award

PhD Student at University of Genoa, Italy

Giulia Iaconi is a passionate and driven PhD student at the Università degli Studi di Genova, where she is pursuing her doctoral studies in Science and Technology for Electronics and Telecommunications Engineering, with a specialization in Electromagnetism, Electronics, and Telecommunications. Her academic foundation in biomedical and neuroengineering provides her with a unique interdisciplinary approach to address complex challenges in biomedical signal processing and computational neuroscience. Her journey reflects a dedicated pursuit of innovation, especially at the intersection of engineering, healthcare, and data science, where she leverages computational tools and machine learning to advance diagnostic and rehabilitation methods. Giulia’s commitment to applying technology to improve human health has guided her academic and research efforts, culminating in multiple scholarly contributions and participation in prominent interdisciplinary projects aimed at advancing digital health solutions.

Profile

Orcid

Education

Giulia began her academic career at the Alma Mater Studiorum of Bologna, where she obtained her bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Engineering. Her undergraduate thesis focused on exploring bradykinesia in Parkinson’s disease patients through neural models, highlighting her early interest in neuroscience and computational approaches. She later pursued a master’s degree in Neuroengineering from the University of Genoa, where her thesis delved into developing a computational model of the cortico-hippocampal circuit to characterize in vitro experimental dynamics. These educational experiences equipped her with a strong foundation in signal processing, systems modeling, and neurobiological applications. Currently, she is in the final phase of her PhD, during which she continues to deepen her expertise in electronic and telecommunication engineering within biomedical contexts, contributing meaningfully to both academic research and applied innovations.

Experience

Giulia’s research experience spans various domains of biomedical engineering, with a particular focus on digital image processing, data analysis, and machine learning as supportive tools in diagnosis, classification, and rehabilitation. As part of the STORMS (Solution Towards Occupational Rehabilitation for Multiple Sclerosis) project, she worked as an engineer responsible for the design and development of serious games aimed at cognitive assessment and rehabilitation of multiple sclerosis patients. Her interdisciplinary collaborations have enabled her to integrate technological solutions with clinical practices, offering digital innovations to healthcare. Through her involvement in this and other initiatives, she has demonstrated proficiency in implementing supervised learning models, analyzing clinical datasets, and creating user-friendly rehabilitation platforms.

Research Interest

Giulia’s research interests lie at the convergence of computational neuroscience, biomedical signal processing, and intelligent healthcare systems. She is particularly invested in the development of machine learning algorithms and digital tools that enhance early diagnosis and personalized rehabilitation. Her work often involves constructing computational models that replicate brain circuitry behavior or employing image and signal processing to extract meaningful clinical insights. She is passionate about building systems that are not only technically robust but also accessible and impactful in clinical settings. Her recent work has emphasized the integration of these techniques into remote healthcare applications, such as telerehabilitation systems that assist in motor recovery monitoring for neurological patients.

Award

Giulia Iaconi is a strong candidate for the Best Researcher Award due to her continued excellence in research, particularly in biomedical engineering applications that merge computational tools with real-world clinical impact. Her contributions to digital health through machine learning and image processing have advanced diagnostic accuracy and patient rehabilitation techniques. Her interdisciplinary work, both in academia and in applied research projects like STORMS, has set a high benchmark in innovation-led healthcare engineering. Her scholarly achievements, active engagement in engineering communities such as IEEE, and ability to collaborate across disciplines collectively demonstrate her outstanding merit in research and development.

Publication

Giulia has published several impactful research articles that showcase her expertise and innovative contributions. Some of her notable publications include:

“Supervised learning algorithms for liver fibrosis classification using ultrasound images,” published in Electronics, 2023 – cited by 6 articles.

“Analysis of event-related potentials in multiple sclerosis rehabilitation: A case study,” in Biomedical Signal Processing and Control, 2022 – cited by 9 articles.

“Computational modeling of the cortico-hippocampal circuit for neurodynamics interpretation,” in Frontiers in Computational Neuroscience, 2023 – cited by 4 articles.

“Digital biomarkers in telehealth systems for cognitive assessment,” published in Sensors, 2022 – cited by 5 articles.

“Development of serious games for neurological rehabilitation,” in Journal of Medical Systems, 2021 – cited by 7 articles.

“Feature extraction from EEG signals for attention deficit assessment,” in IEEE Access, 2023 – cited by 3 articles.

“Artificial intelligence in biomedical imaging: A review on liver disease diagnostics,” in Diagnostics, 2022 – cited by 6 articles.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Giulia Iaconi exemplifies a new generation of researchers who are reshaping biomedical engineering through the application of cutting-edge technologies. Her deep academic grounding, coupled with her research innovation in neuroengineering and digital health, makes her a promising contributor to the future of intelligent healthcare systems. Her collaborative efforts, scholarly publications, and real-world project involvement reflect her commitment to enhancing patient outcomes using data-driven solutions. Through her doctoral studies and beyond, Giulia continues to push the boundaries of what technology can achieve in medical science, making her an ideal nominee for the Best Researcher Award.